


Undead Space: Terror on the 'The Georgian Star'

by Walker_Dundee



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, F/M, Space zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-06-10 01:48:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19488763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Walker_Dundee/pseuds/Walker_Dundee
Summary: 'The Georgian Star' is on its maiden voyage with its thousand plus passengers on a pleasure cruise through the Terminus system. All is well at first, but the voyage soon runs into trouble and Captain Rick Grimes and his marines are sent to investigate, not knowing the danger that awaits them on board or of the threat that could affect the entire galaxy..





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Walking Dead fic set in the far future where humanity has spread out amongst the stars. It contains space battles, roller coaster action, star crossed love and of course zombies. so sit back and enjoy..

‘The Atlanta’ dropped out of warp and a large orange gas giant filled the void of space. Captain Rick ‘The Sheriff’ Grimes stared out through the bridge's view screen at the planet from his command chair and marvelled at the sight.  
“The universe never ceases to amaze does it Rick” said a voice  
Grimes turned to his XO, Commander Shane Walsh, who was standing next to him and grinned.  
“No, it never does, ” said Grimes in agreement.  
“Makes you wonder what else is out there to be discovered, ” said Walsh and Grimes just nodded.  
Grimes then turned his gaze from the gas giant and focused his attention on the task at hand.  
“So where is our station Commander?” Grimes then asked.  
“It’s on the other side of the planet, laying in a course now” said Walsh and Grimes nodded.  
Grimes and his crew of The Atlanta were on a routine assignment to resupply a team of scientists, studying weather pattens of the gas giant from an orbiting space station and then they were returning to Earth for some much needed shore leave. Grimes was looking forward to it, he was eager to see his wife and children again after being in space for so long. His tour hadn’t been a stressful one, the colonial wars in the early days of his career were long in the past and the galaxy was at peace, with the Colonial Navy only needing to deal with pirates and other types who refused to accept Colonial Alliance rule, in fact the only combat his crew had seen on their current tour was quelling a dispute between miners and their employers on a harsh mining planet.  
As The Atlanta reached the station, Grimes turned to his communication officer.  
“Open a channel, let them know we are here” he ordered the officer.  
The officer, nodded and pressed some buttons on the screen in front of him.  
“This is the colonial ship The Atlanta, hailing station TS-19, anybody receiving?” said the officer.  
There was a moment and then a man’s voice came over the ships comms.  
“Reading you loud and clear Atlanta, welcome to the Macon system” said the voice, the lead scientist of the station.  
“Happy to be here Dr Jenner, we’ll have your supplies to you shortly” said Grimes.  
The Atlanta quickly docked with the station and began to offload the supplies to the scientists. Grimes sat in his private office as this happened, he was not needed for something so routine and instead filed some reports.  
He looked down at the holo images on his desk as he worked, one of him with his wife Lori and baby daughter Judith, the other of his son Carl in his navy academy uniform. He stroked the images and they flickered around his fingers. It had been almost a year since he had seen them and couldn’t wait to return to Earth after being away from them for so long.  
When the scientist’s supplies had been offloaded, the Atlanta undocked from the station and prepared to make the long jump back to Earth. Grimes was about to rejoin his bridge crew when his comms pinged.  
“Captain you have a priority one call” announced his comms officer.  
“Who from lieutenant?” asked Grimes.  
“Not sure sir, it’s coded level omega red” replied the officer.  
His personal screen then flickered to life and the familiar face of his superior, Admiral Dale Horvath filled the screen.  
“Admiral” said Grimes with a smile.  
“Rick, this isn’t a social call I’m afraid, we have just received a distress call from a luxury liner in the Terminus system and high command wants you to check it out” said Horvath.  
“The Terminus system sir?, there are no ships closer?” asked Grimes.  
“You are the closest ship to that system Rick” said Horvath.  
Horvath then leant forward in his chair and gave Grimes a more serious look.  
“This is high priority Rick, two high council members, a regional governor and the king and queen of the Shiva system are on board, their safety is of up most importance” he said.  
“Yes sir, I understand” said Grimes.  
“I’m sending you all the relevant info, good luck” said the Admiral.  
The admiral signed off and Grimes alerted Walsh.  
“Commander, plot an immediate course for the Terminus system, maximum warp” he ordered.  
“Yes sir” said Walsh without missing a beat  
“ And I want all executive personal in the briefing room now” he then ordered.  
“Acknowledged Captain” said Walsh.  
Grimes then made his way to his ship’s briefing room and his executive officers filed in, taking their seats at the table. As soon as they all sat down, Grimes began to speak.  
“I have just been informed of a situation that requires our attention” he explained.  
Grimes waved his hand and a hologram of a sleek looking luxury passenger liner appeared out of the briefing table.  
“An emergency distress signal has been received from the luxury liner, the Georgian Star, it is still unknown what was the cause of the distress call and all hails since have gone unanswered, we have been ordered by high command to jump to the terminus system and assist the ship”  
Grimes turned to the head of his Marine attachment, a grizzled no nonsense man with years of combat experience.  
“Ford, get your men ready, we don’t know what to expect and they will be the first boots on the ship when we arrive” ordered Grimes  
“Yes sir, I’ll get them fired up” said the man.  
Grimes nodded and then turned to Walsh.  
“How long till we reach the ship?” Grimes asked him.  
“At maximum warp we should reach the Terminus system in four hours” said Walsh.  
Grimes nodded and just hoped they arrived in time..

Corporal Daryl Dixon, call sign ‘Bowman’, shook his head and rolled his eyes as his older brother Merle entertained the rest of their fellow marines with his off ship exploits.  
“She was a pretty peach boys and she loved her some Merle” said Merle as he walked up and down the bunks.  
Daryl snorted loudly and Merle looked over at him.  
“Somthin you don’t agree with little brother” asked Merle.  
“Nothin Merle, as far as I remember, that girl was far from peachy and it took ya quite a few drinks to get her to love her some Merle” replied Daryl and the marines all howled with laughter.  
Merle scowled at his brother for a few seconds, but then joined in the laughter, not one to be put down for long  
“Oh, ha-ha little brother, least I got me some tail that night” crowed Merle.  
Before Daryl could retort again, the door suddenly opened and their commanding officer marched in. The marines all jumped up at once and stood to attention.  
“Alright ladies listen up we have a situation, I want everyone in the ready room now” barked Ford.  
Daryl and his fellow marines followed Ford into a large briefing room, set out theatre style and took their seats  
“So who we killin sir” asked Merle  
“Can it Dixon, ok ladies and gentlemen we’re being sent to the Terminus system, seems some rich folk on a luxury liner are in need of our talents” said Ford.  
A hologram of a luxury liner appeared, floating in front of the commander.  
“Were they attacked, sir?” asked a marine called Douglas, better known as T-dog.  
“That’s unclear at the moment, all we know is that a distress call was sent out and that they have since failed to respond” explained Ford.  
There was a murmuring amongst the marines and Ford continued on.  
“Our mission is to get on board, secure the passengers and determine what happened, we will insert here, in the ship's hanger bays and go from there, Bravo unit will secure the bridge, Charlie will secure engineering while Delta and Echo will secure the passengers" said Ford.  
“And Alpha sir?” asked Daryl, which was his unit.  
“There are some high value persons on board that need finding” said Ford and five faces appeared in the liners place.  
“Alpha your mission is to find these people and exifil them immediately back to ‘the Atlanta'" said Ford.  
Daryl memorised the faces and recognised some of them.  
“Is that the King of Shiva?" asked a marine.  
“Yes and his wife, as well as two high council members and the governor of the Terminus system, let me be clear Alpha, these people are high priority and they may have family with them but make no mistake these five must be found and brought back to the Atlanta” said Ford.  
“Alright ladies and gentlemen, we will reach the Terminus system in approximately four hours, I want you all ready and all suited up ASAP” ordered Ford.  
“Yes sir” everyone cried.  
They all filed out of the room and Merle clasped Daryl on the back.  
“So what do you think little brother, maybe there’ll be a pretty young thing for you to save” he said and Daryl scowled.  
“Focus dumbass, get your head in the game” said Daryl.  
Merle looked hurt at first and held out his hands in surrender, but then grinned wickedly.  
“Oh but little brother this is me in the game, oorah!, the Colonial Marines are gonna kick some ass son” said Merle loudly.  
Daryl just shook his head, Merle was a crass as they came but Daryl loved his brother all the same and didn’t know what he would do without him..

Four hours later The Atlanta dropped out of warp in the Terminus system and immediately located the Georgian Star, drifting in orbit around a tropical island planet.  
“Situation report now” barked Grimes to his bridge crew.  
“Sir the vessel appears to be undamaged but its engines and warp core are off line, life support and main power though appears to be functioning normally” said Walsh.  
“Open a hailing channel” ordered Grimes.  
The communication officer did so and then nodded at Grimes.  
“This is Captain Rick Grimes of the battle-cruiser, The Atlanta, is anybody reading me?” said Grimes.  
There was no answer and he tried again.  
“I repeat, this is Captain Rick Grimes of the Colonial Alliance Navy, is anybody reading me?” he asked, louder this time.  
There was still no answer and Grimes needed to know what was happening on the ship immediately.  
“Ford, are you men ready?” he asked over the comms.  
“Yes, Captain” came the reply.  
“Excellent, I want them over on that ship now” ordered Grimes.  
“Copy that sir” said Ford.  
Grimes continued to stare out at the drifting luxury liner and wondered what in the hell was wrong over there.. 

Daryl and his fellow marines hurried along the corridors of The Atlanta, heading for the hanger bays. The door to the hangers in front of them opened and they were greeted by five mean looking assault drop ships. They were sleek, heavily armoured and well armed, designed to insert the marines into any combat zone.  
“Alright ladies, what are you waiting for? load up” ordered Ford.  
Not needing to be told twice, the marines split into their units and climbed aboard their designated ships. Daryl sat down in one of the seats and the pilots took off and out through the hanger doors, into open space.  
They hurtled towards the stricken ship and the marines did final checks, slapping their armour and ensuring their pulse rifles were operational, priming themselves for whatever was waiting for them. Daryl looked at his unit as they did. They came from all corners of the galaxy, there was Siddiq, call sign ‘Scimitar’ the units medic; a huge tank of a man, call sign ‘Big Tiny’ the unit’s heavy weapons expert; the lethal femme fatale Sasha, call sign 'Firefox' who served as the unit's sniper and finally a new addition to the unit, a small wiry kid called Patrick, who everyone called Rookie, who was the unit's communication and technical officer. Daryl was the leader of the unit and excelled at his position. They may have been a rag tag team of misfits, but they worked well together and had earned the status of Alpha unit.  
The drop ships quickly reached the liner, but found all of the hanger bays were sealed tight and wouldn’t respond.  
“They hanger bays aren’t responding captain, we’ll have to dock manually” Daryl heard Commander Ford report over the radio.  
“Acknowledged, proceed Commander Ford” said the captain.  
The drop ships split to locate airlocks. Daryl’s drop ship found one and there was a loud clunk as it made contact with the liners hull. The drop ships co-pilot opened a panel in the floor and revealed an airlock hatch. The hatch was opened and Daryl and his unit cautiously made their way through the hatch and into the liner’s airlock.  
It was like walking into a tomb as they stepped out through the airlock and onto the ship. Daryl almost shivered, but forced it down and he and his men began to move up the corridor, pulse rifles up and looking for any sign of life and their targets.  
They came to a cross hallway and Daryl spotted a woman in a cocktail dress slumped up against a wall. The woman wasn’t moving and had a large kitchen knife embedded in her skull.  
“Got a body” said Daryl.  
Siddiq crouched down and examined the woman.  
“She has a bite wound” he said.  
“What?” asked Daryl in surprise.  
Siddiq held up the woman’s arm, revealing a large chunk of her arm missing.  
“What the fuck did that?” asked ‘Big Tiny’.  
“It appears to be a human bite mark” said Siddiq and the marines looked at each other in shock.  
“Some one bit her?” asked Sasha in disbelief and Siddiq nodded.  
“What the fuck happened here?” Daryl growled.  
“I got movement” said Rookie suddenly as his motion tracker started beeping.  
“Where?” asked Daryl.  
“Just up ahead” he said, pointing.  
They came to an open door to one of the ship's more luxury quarters and they cautiously entered, sweeping their rifles around the room. Daryl then looked at Patrick, who pointed at a closed closet door.  
“There” he whispered.  
The marines spread out, aiming their pulse rifles at the door. Daryl whipped open the door and found a young blonde woman inside, crouched on the floor and peeking out from the hanging clothes. She gasped in fright and Daryl motioned for his fellow marines to lower their weapons.  
“Whoa, it’s ok, it’s ok” said Daryl soothingly to the woman  
The young woman gave them all a terrified look, she was trembling, her bright blue eyes were wide and darting and Daryl saw dried blood on her face and arms. He held out his hands in a non threatening manner and stepped forward into the closet slightly.  
“It’s ok ma’am, we’re colonial marines, we are here to help” he said gently.  
The woman backed away again and Daryl exchanged looks with his unit. He then handed his rifle to one of them and crouched down in front of the woman. He held out his hand but the woman just stared at it.  
“Ma’am, are you hurt?” he asked.  
The woman shook her head in response and continued to look terrified.  
“What’s your name?” he asked.  
The woman swallowed audibly and then answered.  
“B-beth, Beth Greene” she whispered, almost too low for Daryl to hear.  
“Can you tell me what happened on the ship Beth?” he asked.  
Beth didn’t respond and just stared at her at her hands as they continued to shake.  
“Beth what happened here?, where is everyone?” Daryl asked again.  
“They’re dead, they’re all dead” Beth whispered.  
“Who’s dead, Beth?, the passengers?, who’s all dead, Beth?” Daryl pressed.  
Beth just fell silent, hugged her knees, started to shake again. Daryl and his unit exchanged looks again.  
“Rookie, get on the radio, tell Commander Ford, we found a passenger” ordered Daryl and the kid nodded, reaching for his radio.  
Daryl then turned back to Beth and put his hand on her knee.  
“Beth, I really need you to tell us what happen here?” said Daryl.  
Beth stopped shaking, looked at Daryl's hand on her knee and then looked him in the eyes. She took a deep breath, her big blue eyes focused and then she began talking.  



	2. Chapter 2

Two days previously....

Beth Greene could barely hold in her excitement as the shuttle landed in the hanger bay of the huge luxury cruise liner ‘the Georgian Star’.  
“This is going to be so much fun Maggie” she bubbled happily to her sister.  
Maggie grinned at Beth and was just as excited. Beth was currently on spring break from university and Maggie had just been offered a job in one of the more prominent law firms so their father had decided take the sisters on a cruise to celebrate. Beth had been more than excited when she had found out and couldn’t wait to relax, party and just have fun while on the cruise.  
The shuttle’s pilot and Hershel Greene’s personal bodyguard opened the shuttle’s door and then nodded at her boss.  
“Thank you Rosita” said Hershel warmly.  
A ship's steward in a fancy white uniform greeted them as they stepped out onto the hanger floor and gave them all a bright smile.  
“Welcome to the Georgian Star, Councilman Greene, my name is Noah and I’ve been assigned to you during your stay” he said.  
“Well, thank you Noah” said Hershel.  
“If you follow me, sir, I’ll show you to your rooms and have your things brought up” said Noah  
The steward Noah then nodded to several other crewmen, who began to collect the Greene family’s luggage.  
Beth and her family, then rode up an elevator and came out onto a bustling leisure deck, filled with other arriving passengers. The huge glass roof of the deck was an azure blue, simulating a warm summer day. Beth gazed up at it in wonder and grinned.  
“Every day is a beautiful sunny day on the leisure deck” said the Noah proudly.  
Noah then gave them on a short tour before leading them to their rooms. Being a member of the High Council, came with privileges, so the Greene family had been given one of the prestigious private suites on the ship. Beth was more than impressed with the suite, but she wasn’t going to be spending all her time there with all the ship had to offer. Beth claimed a bedroom and then she and Maggie set out to see the rest of the ship.  
The sisters spent the rest of the day exploring the ship together, having lunch in one of the ship's many restaurants and discovering all the delights before returning to their quarters to join their father for dinner.  
Beth chose a nice formal dress to wear and then she, Maggie, Hershel and Rosita made their way to the main dinning hall. A hostess at the reception smiled warmly at them as they arrived and signalled a nearby steward. The steward led them through the tables till they reached the captains table.  
Several people were already sitting at the table and they gave them a warm smile.  
“Deanna, how are you?” said Hershel as one of the women got up to greet them.  
“I’m good Hershel, you remember my husband Reg?” said Deanna.  
“Of course” said Hershel.  
“And these must be your lovely daughters” said Deanna  
“Yes indeed they are, this is Maggie and Beth” said Hershel.  
The woman smiled warmly at them and then turned to introduce the others at the table.  
“This is Philip Blake, governor of the Terminus system and his wife and sister in law, Andrea and Amy and this is a good friend of theirs, Michonne” said Deanna  
Beth, Maggie and Hershel shook hands with them. Rosita waited till Hershel and his daughters were seated and left.  
“So where is the captain?” asked Hershel.  
“I’m sure he’ll be along soon” said Governor Blake.  
Sure enough a tall, distinguished man soon made his way over to the table  
“Good evening everyone” he said with a smile.  
The captain then made his way around the table, shaking everyone’s hands before taking his seat.  
“We’re just expecting one more party, oh here they are now” said the captain.  
Beth turned and her eyes widened as she saw the four people making their way across the room.  
“Is that the king of Shiva?” Beth whispered to Maggie.  
“Yeah, it is” Maggie whispered back.  
King Ezekiel and his wife Carol were both impeccably dressed and every bit the royalty they were. A young girl was also with them, also finely dressed and was holding her mother's hand and clutching a doll. Walking behind them was a tall, heavily built man who was obviously the royal family’s bodyguard.  
“Well hello everyone, how are we on this fine evening?” asked King Ezekiel in a booming voice.  
“Good Ezekiel, very good” said the captain.  
The captain made introductions and then the three sat down. The bodyguard hovered by the table and Ezekiel turned to him  
“That will be all Jerry” he said  
The bodyguard hesitated, but then nodded and left.  
The captain then signalled to a nearby a steward, who came over to the table.  
“Shall we order?” asked the captain and everyone nodded.  
After orders were placed and conversation began to flow around the table, Beth noticed the girl, Sophia looked at little bored so she gave the girl a warm smile.  
“That’s a very cute doll, Sophia, what’s her name?” Beth asked.  
Sophia’s face lit up and she smiled happily at Beth.  
“Her name is Eliza” said Sophia.  
“That’s a very pretty name” said Beth.  
Sophia beamed and Beth grinned back.  
“So Philip, I hear that a Precursor ruin was recently found here in your system” Deanna then said.  
Everyone stopped talking and turned to look. Beth noticed a flash of displeasure on the Governor’s face, but it was quickly replaced by his smile again.  
“Ahh yes, about a week ago” he said.  
“Anything of interest?” asked Deanna.  
“Just dust and rock I’m afraid” said the Governor.  
“Hmm, it's strange, after all these years, we keep finding their ruins, but have never found out what wiped them out” said Deanna  
The table then began discussing and throwing out their theories of what happened to the ancient alien race. Beth sighed softly, not really interested in the conversation. While history wasn’t one of her strong points, she knew all about the Precursors, everyone knew about the Precursors. They were one of the greatest mysteries of the galaxy and were the reason humans were even out amongst the stars.  
A year after the first people stepped on Mars, an alien structure was discovered by explorers while mapping one of the planet’s canyons. They found the structure to be thousands of years old, built by a race of incredibly advanced aliens, later referred to as the Precursors. The discovery changed humanity forever, the proof of an advanced alien existence shocked the world. Human technology was catapulted forward, a world government was formed, starships were built and with the alien’s star map, humanity began to explore the galaxy.  
Planets were terraformed for human life and colonies were built. Over time, the colonies grew in size and then began to want independence from Earth. War broke out, raging for years until the colonial leaders sat down and called a truce. A new government was formed, a Colonial Alliance and the galaxy was at peace again..  
“So Beth, how are you enjoying university?” Carol then asked, pulling Beth from her thoughts.  
“Oh really great, I’m enjoying it a lot” said Beth with a grin.  
“What are you studying?” asked Michonne with interest.  
“Music and theatre” said Beth.  
“Beth wants to become an actress” said Hershel with pride.  
Beth just blushed and everyone chuckled.  
“That’s great Beth" said Deanna and Beth beamed.  
“So captain, what’s our first port of call?” Amy then asked.  
“Our first stop is Caribbia” he said proudly  
“Is that the planet that is made up of islands?” Amy asked..  
“Yes, thousands of them, of all different sizes, all tropical” said the captain with a smile.  
“Are we going to go swimming?” asked Sophia.  
“Yes, we are, my dear” said Ezekiel and Sophia grinned happily.  
“Caribba has some of the finest, pristine beaches ever discovered, even better than Earth” said the Captain and Beth couldn’t wait to see them.  
Dinner was soon finished up and when dessert had been eaten, the king and his family excused themselves from the table, needing to get Sophia to bed.  
“Good night everyone, see you tomorrow” said the girl as she left.  
The rest stayed talking a little longer, but then everyone decided to retire for the night. Everyone but Beth and Maggie though, who wanted to experience the ship’s nightlife activities. They invited Amy, who quickly accepted and they returned to their quarters. Hershel settled into an armchair with a book and the girls changed into more appropriate attire for a night out.  
Beth checked herself out in the mirror after changing into the killer little dress and heels, she had chosen to wear and grinned. Maggie came into the room and whistled.  
“Very sexy, little sister” she said  
“Yeah?” Beth asked.  
“Oh yes, the boys are going to love you” assured Maggie  
Beth just grinned and then complimented Maggie on her outfit. The two sisters then ensured their father was settled in for the night before meeting up with Amy and making their way to one of the ship’s nightclubs.  
It was pumping as they walked in and the girls all looked around excitedly. They grabbed some drinks and then found an empty bar table to sit at. Beth sipped her strongly made drink and looked around. Several guys smiled with interest at the girls as they walked passed and then one of them walked up to them.  
“Hi there, I’m Glenn” he said, introducing himself.  
“Well hi Glenn, I’m Amy and this is Maggie and Beth” said Amy.  
Glenn gave Amy and Beth a smile, but it widened considerably as he looked at Maggie.  
“Can I buy you ladies a drink” he then asked.  
“Well, thanks but we’ve already got some, but how bout you get the next ones?” said Maggie.  
“Deal” said Glenn with a grin.  
Glenn took a seat and he and Maggie began talking. Glenn seemed a little nervous, but Maggie became very taken with him and he with her. The two soon moved to the dance floor and Beth and Amy got themselves another drink.  
A couple of guys then asked Beth and Amy to dance. Beth politely declined, but Amy took them up on their offer and disappeared onto the dance floor. Beth finished off her drink and then joined Maggie and Glenn when Maggie waved her over.  
Beth danced the night away with them, more than enjoying the music and the numerous strong drinks. Several guys asked her to dance and to buy her drinks, but she declined, just happy to dance with Maggie and Glenn.  
When yet another drunk frat boy asked her to dance, Beth decided to call it a night. Amy was nowhere to be seen and Maggie was having too much of a good time with Glenn, so Beth left her to enjoy the rest of the night.  
Beth left the nightclub and made her way back to the suite. She crept into the suite as she opened the door, hoping her father wasn’t still up, but she found the suite all quiet.  
Beth grabbed a bottle of sports drink from the mini fridge and downed it. She then slipped out of her dress and fell into her bed. She giggled quietly as the room spun and then she passed out.  
Beth woke the next morning and rolled in the soft sheets before getting up. Her head pounded a little, but she had suffered worse and got up, showered and got dressed. She peeked into Maggie’s room and grinned when she found it empty and the bed unslept in.  
Beth then found Rosita already up, drinking coffee and gave the woman a sheepish smile.  
“Morning” said Beth.  
“Morning” said Rosita in return and slid a small box across the bench.  
Beth picked up the box of pain meds, grinned and popped a couple of the pills, washing them down with some water.  
Rosita was Beth’s favourite of her father’s bodyguards so far, the woman was tough as nails and a former marine but also had a soft side which Beth liked, especially moments like this.  
Beth then ordered some breakfast and as she sat down to wait for it to be delivered, the door opened and Maggie crept into the suite, still in her little cocktail dress and with her heels in her hand. She froze as she saw Beth and Rosita and Beth grinned at her.  
“Morning” said Beth teasingly.  
“Is daddy up?” asked Maggie.  
“Not yet” said Beth and Maggie’s face relaxed.  
“So what did you get up to after I left?” asked Beth.  
Maggie just smiled mischievously and Beth giggled. Maggie went to shower and change before rejoining Beth and Rosita. As Maggie started to order herself some breakfast, the door to Hershel’s bedroom opened and he came out.  
“Morning ” he said warmly to the girls.  
“Morning daddy” said Beth.  
“So you two have fun last night?” Hershel asked.  
Beth and Maggie looked at each other and burst into giggles, causing their father to just look bewildered at them.  
After they had all eaten breakfast, they headed down to the hangers to board shuttles down to the surface of Carribia. Beth and her family were soon joined by their dinner companions from the night before. Sophia gave them all a big smile and Beth smiled back at the girl.  
Beth’s smile then widened as she saw Glenn join the group, who was greeted warmly by King Ezekiel. Beth nudged Maggie and saw her face go a crimson red. Beth almost laughed, but saw their father watching and decided not to cause Maggie any more unnecessary suffering. Glenn gave Maggie a glance and then continued talking to the king.  
The group all then boarded the same shuttle craft and made their way down to the planet’s surface. The shuttle’s pilot headed for one of the smaller islands, away from the other passengers and landed.  
Everyone disembarked and then walked a short distance through the lush tropical jungle. Beth let out a gasp of delight as they reached the beach and kicked off her sandals. She grabbed Sophia’s hand and they both ran down to the water’s edge and laughed as the waves lapped over their feet.  
The Captain had sent down Noah and some other crewmen on the shuttle and they began to set up shade tents, tables and opened coolers filled with food and drink, everything they needed for the day and more.  
The little group then spent the day, swimming, eating and enjoying each others company until it grew dark. The group then all sat on the beach together to watch the sunset, before eating dinner.  
“So Glenn hasn’t been able to keep his eyes off you all day” said Beth teasingly as they sat around the large bonfire after dinner, toasting marsh mellows.  
Maggie looked over to where Glenn was sitting and Beth saw her blush in the firelight.  
“So you are going to see him again?” Beth asked.  
“We spent one night together Beth” said Maggie with a sigh.  
“So?, he obviously really likes you” said Beth.  
“Well, maybe, he is really cute, ” said Maggie and they both giggled.  
“What are you two giggling about?” asked the father as he came up to them.  
“Nothing daddy” said Maggie with a grin.  
Hershel just stared at them and the sisters just giggled again. Suddenly Noah appeared and got everyone’s attention.  
“Ok everyone, sorry but it’s time to go, ” he said.  
Beth would have liked to have stayed longer, maybe slept under the stars, but she got up with the others and made the way back to the shuttle. Beth took one last wistful look at the island paradise and boarded the shuttle with the others. They soon landed back on the ship and despite wanting to stay longer on the island just before, Beth couldn’t wait to have a hot shower.  
As they stepped out onto the hanger deck, a bookish man in glasses made his way over to them and began talking to the Governor in a low but agitated voice. Beth couldn’t hear what they were saying, but whatever they were talking about, disturbed the governor who then grabbed Andrea and Amy and the four of them hurried away.  
“What was that about?” asked Deanna.  
“No idea” said Hershel.  
Beth felt a strangeness in the air as they walked back to their quarters, the joy and energy of that usually filled a cruise ship seemed to be gone, replaced by something different, something darker.  
People were acting strange and Beth began to feel a little unsettled. No one else seemed to notice though and Beth just blamed it on her over active imagination.  
The group then went their separate ways and promised to meet up in the morning. Beth took a long hot shower and then after talking to Maggie, fell into bed and quickly fell asleep.  
Her sleep didn’t last long though, and Beth soon felt herself being shaken awake.  
“Beth wake up, you have to get up” said Maggie.  
“Huh?” said Beth sleepily.  
Beth sat up in the bed and saw her father and Rosita were in the room as well. Rosita had a pistol in her hand and Beth gave her father a worried look.  
“What’s going on?” she asked.  
“Shh just get dressed” said Maggie, pressing some clothes into her hand.  
Beth pulled on the clothes and Maggie then passed her some shoes.  
“Daddy what’s going on?” Beth asked as she put them on.  
“Something is happening on the ship” said Hershel.  
“What?” asked Beth.  
He didn’t answer and just gave her a grave look which just made Beth more frightened.  
“Come on we need to get going” said Rosita.  
As they stepped out from the suite, a couple rushed passed them with scared looks on their faces.  
“We need to get to the citadel” said Rosita.  
“What’s that?” asked Maggie.  
“Its an armoured safe room, it will be the safest place on the ship” said Rosita.  
Beth was still so confused, no one was explaining what was happening and it made her more scared. The four began making their way through the ship and Beth could heard screams, shouting and running and clutched her father’s hand tighter as they hurried along the hallways.  
They turned a corner and saw a man standing in the middle of the hallway, blocking their way. He was facing away from them and as he turned, Beth gasped as she saw his shirt was covered in blood.  
The man then snarled and blood dripped from his mouth. He began to move towards them and Rosita swiftly stepped in front of the Greene’s, aiming her pistol at the man.  
“Stop” she ordered.  
The man just snarled again and kept walking. Rosita fired her pistol, hitting the man in the chest, he stumbled backwards, but he didn’t go down and Rosita fired again only achieving the same result. She fired a third time, aiming for the man’s head and he dropped to the ground.  
“What is happening?” Beth asked, her voice almost cracking.  
“They must be infected or something” said Hershel.  
“Guy just took two rounds to the chest and didn't put him down, whatever it is, it’s bad, we need to get off this ship now” said Rosita.  
“Shouldn’t we get to the safe room?” asked Maggie.  
“No, we need to get to a lifepod, they’re are our best bet now” said Rosita.  
Beth and the others didn’t even argue and continued to follow Rosita. By some stroke of luck they found a lifepods area nearby and Rosita slapped an access panel on one of the lifepods. There was a buzzing noise, but the door to the lifepod failed to open.  
“Shit” cursed Rosita.  
“Rosita?” said Hershel.  
They’re off line” said Rosita.  
“How can they be be off line?” asked Maggie in disbelief.  
“The captain or executive officers must give the evacuation order first to prevent misuse” explained Rosita.  
“So what now?” asked Hershel.  
“Ok,ok, we head to the hangers, take one of the shuttles, worst comes to worse, we hole up in one of them and wait for rescue” said Rosita quickly.  
Beth just wanted off the ship, just wanted to be safe and away from this nightmare. She then looked down the hallway and gasped as she saw infected passengers appear around a corner and start coming towards them.  
“Daddy” she whispered.  
“Come on let’s go” said Rosita, seeing them too.  
They began following Rosita again as she led them away. They hurried down yet another corridor and then Beth, not paying attention to the what was in front of her, slipped in a pool of blood on the floor. She fell heavily and yelled out in fright.  
Maggie and Hershel stopped and looked back. Beth tried to get back up, but she slipped again, the blood covering her hands and clothes. Rosita started back for her, but suddenly a huge number of the infected stumbled out from the hallway between them. Beth managed to get to her feet and screamed as some of them began stumbling towards her. Rosita began firing her pistol, but there were too many.  
“Beth run” yelled Hershel over the heads of the infected.  
“No” Beth screamed back.  
“Run Beth, we will find you, just run and hide somewhere” yelled her father.  
Beth hesitated, she didn’t want to be separated from them, but she was cut off. With one last look at her family, she started running back the way she had just come from.  
She had no idea where she was going and just ran blindly down corridors with the infected hot on her heels. Beth then saw a crewman in a chief’s uniform who was trying to open an elevator door. She rushed up to him, hoping he could help but as she neared him, he spun and held out a large kitchen knife.  
“Get away, back off” shouted the man, waving the knife.  
Beth froze and held out her hands, she was about to plead for his help when suddenly the elevator behind him opened and it was filled with infected passengers. Beth screamed as they grabbed the man and forced him to the ground. His knife was knocked from his hand and went skidding across the floor. It stopped at Beth’s feet, she quickly picked it up and ran while the infected passengers were distracted, tearing apart the chief as he screamed in pain.  
Beth was more than panic stricken now, she was alone on a ship filled with monsters and no way out. She just kept running down hallways and as she rounded another corner, she ran into an infected passenger, a woman in a shiny cocktail dress.  
The woman lunged at Beth, grabbing her arm. Beth cried out and managed to stab the woman in the head. She went slack and slumped to the ground, dead. Beth stumbled backwards, shaking uncontrollably. She tried to pull the knife out, but it was stuck.  
As she tried again, she heard strange thumping close by, Beth didn’t want to find out what it was and she ran. She found an open door to someone’s quarters, much like her family’s and ducked inside. Beth waved her hand over the door’s control panel to close it, but it just beeped and the door remained open. Beth almost cried out in frustration, but she heard approaching footsteps.  
As they got closer and closer, she ran into the room’s walk in closet and shut the door behind her. Beth crouched down in the dark little room, hiding between the hanging clothes and tried her best not to make a sound.  
Beth put her hand to her mouth as she heard the footsteps just outside the closet door and hoped they wouldn’t hear the pounding of her heart, which was threatening to explode out of her chest.  
Suddenly the closet door was wrenched open and standing outside were five heavily armed soldiers, all pointing their rifles at her. Beth almost screamed at them and backed away in fright.  
“It’s ok ma’am, we’re colonial marines, we are here to help” said one of them gently.  
Beth just backed away again and he handed his rifle to another. He crouched down in front of Beth and she read the name Dixon on his armour.  
“Ma’am, are you hurt?” he asked and Beth shook her head in response.  
“What’s your name?” asked the marine called Dixon.  
As Beth stared into the marine’s handsome face and intense eyes, she felt a strange calmness come over her.  
“B-beth, Beth Greene” she whispered.  
“Can you tell me what happened on the ship Beth?” he asked  
Beth didn’t respond and just stared at her at her hands as they continued to shake.  
“Beth what happened here?, where is everyone?” Dixon asked again.  
“They’re dead, they’re all dead” Beth whispered.  
“Who’s dead, Beth?, the passengers?, who’s all dead, Beth?” he pressed.  
Beth just fell silent, hugged her knees, started to shake again.  
“Rookie, get on the radio, tell Commander Ford, we found a passenger” said Dixon, and the younger one nodded, reaching for his radio.  
Dixon then turned back to Beth and put his hand on her knee.  
“Beth, I really need you to tell us what happen here” he asked.  
Beth stopped shaking, looked at the man’s hand on her knee, then looked straight at him, she took a deep breath and then nodded.  
“I um don’t really know, the other passengers are infected or something” she explained as best she could.  
“What the fuck is she talking about?” asked one of them, a giant of a man.  
“Infected?, how?” asked another.  
Before Beth could answer the marine, the other one called Rookie tapped Dixon on the shoulder.  
“Sir, Commander Ford is ordering us to head to the ship’s safe room, he thinks our targets could be there ” he said.  
Beth lifted her head at this and a glimmer of hope sparked in her.  
“T-the safe room?” she asked  
“Yeah, you know where it is?” asked Dixon.  
“No, not really, my family was heading there before we got separated” she answered.  
“Wait you said your name was Greene?, as in Councilman Greene?” he then asked, giving her an intrigued look.  
“He is my father” said Beth and the marines all exchanged glances.  
“Ok, let’s find this safe room, Rookie I want a route there now” ordered Dixon.  
The young marine nodded and began to tap the screen attached to his wrist.  
“Alright miss Greene, you’ll be safe with us now” said Dixon.  
“Ok” she said and he pulled her to her feet.  
The marines and Beth then left the quarters. The marines spread out as they began to move down the thankfully empty hallway, their rifles up and ready. Beth did feel safer with the heavily armed marines but that paralysing fear was still present. She then felt Dixon’s hand on her arm and she looked up at him.  
“It’s ok Beth, I won’t leave your side, I promise, ” he assured her.  
Beth nodded and fully believed him. She tried to push her fear down, but she desperately wanted to find Maggie and her father more than anything and sooner the better…


End file.
